Inside 'Putin's yacht': Photos show lavish interiors of $659M luxury vessel

By MAILONLINE REPORTER- 24 March 2022

The lavish interiors of a $659M (£500M) superyacht suspected of belonging to despot Vladimir Putin have been revealed. The luxury 460ft vessel is currently docked and undergoing repairs at the Italian port of Marina di Carrara, north of Pisa, in Tusancy. Remarkable photos showcase the obscene wealth of goods and furniture the Scheherazade has been decked out with for the Russian President's enjoyment. [Putin's deckhands used to be Russian, but those workers have mysteriously disappeared. Click here for that full story.]

Items include a gold-plated toilet paper holder (pictured), glitzy chandeliers, a pool table, a sitting room complete with a piano, as well as a tiled dance floor, which lowers to turn into a swimming pool. Personal touches to Putin also appear to be evident, as the yacht boasts a judo gym, including framed pictures of black belts.

Pictured: One of the most staggering examples of indulgence on board – a dance floor that lowers to reveal a swimming pool.

The President could hardly feel safer when he does climb aboard, as the vessel is also equipped with landing spots for 16ft military helicopters and a four-radar security system said to be capable of shooting down drones. Pictured: A long dining table, capable of seating more than a dozen guests, sits beneath luxurious lights in this spacious area of the boat.

A worker who helped build the floating palace told the Sun : 'Every surface is marble or gold. There are countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym, two helipads. It's like a mini city. There is even a hospital which makes sense when you hear rumors of Putin being terminally ill.... And it is an unimaginable amount of wealth when the average Russian's salary is $6,591 (£5,000) a year, and people there are struggling to eat.' 

The yacht arrived at the port at the end of last summer under the steerage of British captain Guy Bennett-Pearce. It comes after it emerged yesterday that the entire Russian crew onboard have disappeared and been replaced by a British one. Pictured: The lavish seating area is kitted out with sprawling sofas and luxurious lamps, while a piano also appears in the background.

Officials said more than two dozen officers and deckhands were all spirited away from The Scheherazade within the last week after it was placed in the spotlight due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Pictured: A pool table is among the luxury goods on board the Scheherszade, Putin's superyacht which is currently docked in Tuscany.

Earlier this week it was reported that all 40 of the crew were members of the Russian intelligence branches of the FSB and FSO and had sworn their loyalty to Putin. But since the six-deck yacht came under the eye of investigators probing possible sanctions a veil of secrecy has come down – despite Captain Bennett-Pearce denying Putin owns it or has even been on board. Pictured: Personal touches to Putin also appear to be evident, as the yacht boasts a judo gym, including framed pictures of black belts.

Paolo Gozzani, of the local CGIL Union, told MailOnline: 'From what I have heard the Russian crew were all replaced during the last few days and now they are all British onboard.' Pictured: As well as the swimming pool, the yacht also has a jacuzzi area for guests to enjoy while aboard the floating palace.

'It was all a few days, the word from inside is that they were called back to report for military service and now there are armed guards surrounding it as well,' he continued. 'You can't get anywhere near her and the level of security is unbelievable.' Pictured: The seating area on deck seems an ideal place for guests on the yacht to put a bottle of champagne on ice and relax.

A source at the marina said:' You could spot the Russians a mile off they were in the local bars most night, drinking vodka and beer.' Pictured: Another view of the luxury 460ft vessel.

The source continued: 'They were big looking guys and then one day they all just disappeared. To be honest for me they didn't look like a yacht crew they looked like a small army or security detail.' Pictured: The dance floor, which features a swimming pool underneath, is one of the more unique aspects to the superyacht.

The Italian Sea Group which owns the yard where The Scheherazade is docked has denied Putin is the owner but is expected to come under scrutiny on Thursday when it presents its consolidated financial results. Pictured: Crew members on board the boat.  

The six-deck Scheherazade is one of the largest - with space equivalent to two apartment blocks - and most expensive superyachts in the world. The yacht has room for 18 guests in nine luxury cabins in addition to a crew of 40, residing in 20 cabins and boasts two helipads, a royal suite, a swimming pool, a spa and a beauty salon. But since its launch in 2020, the yacht's true ownership has been cloaked in absolute secrecy. 

For more than a year, workers at the shipyard have speculated that the ship belongs to Putin himself, a source there told MailOnline on March 8. 'All the whispers were it belonged to Putin,' the person said. The source said at the time that the Scheherazade's crew appear to be Russian, and that a team of Germans working on repairs to the vessel were recalled by their home office after the EU announced its sanctions in early March. 

Allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny yesterday told Italian authorities this week that they should seize the Scheherazade because they can prove it belongs to Putin. A sensational video shared on Navalny's YouTube channel claims that though the captain is British, the rest of the crew are allegedly from the FSO and FSB - two Russian secret services. 

 

However, Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce denied has that Putin owns the Scheherazade or has ever been on board, telling the New York Times : 'I have never seen him. I have never met him.' 

The ship's name, Scheherazade, is the female protagonist from the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the One Thousand and One Nights. It is also the title of a symphonic suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov that is based on the tales.